The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-01-05

oN
alton under the tariff, which in fact
was practically far more Burden
some than the estate taxation, be-
cause State taxation was levied on
property, while tho Federal swas
founded on consumption and be-
cause further, while tho levy for
State taxes is only st mills, or Il
little over J of l cent on the dollar,
the average Federal taxation is rs
cents ION the dollar Of all imported
manufactures, while on many
kinds of manufactures the Tariff
tax is first specific (per yard or per
h., or per bu.,) and then "in oddi-
ton thereto" a certain per ccntawe
ad valorem, a. in cotton and wool
en- goods, and manufactures of iron.
steel n leather etc, the former
or state taxation being limited to
q few mills on the dollar while the
the federa enters in larga propor-
lions INTO everything consumed by
!he poorest family, thus often tax
inga practical pauper as heavily as
IL dOeS II rich man. We have not
had any dream of attempting to
get up another NulliEcati0n or an
other Secession, and whether Tariff
reform will effect anything this
session of Congress or not, is not
relative to the point we are driving
at. That point is, that when cer-
tain gentlemen undertook to tell
the people Of Laurcns and South
Carolina, "whats the matter" and
whats the remedy" they never
once alluded to Federal taxation,
that huge cNaction of IS per cent
at Valorem tax on the consumption
OF the County, that rarified sclf-ac-
ting suction pump, the Federal tar
III. And just here let.it be rcmcm-
bered that no one has been more
prominent L intlucntial in "whoop-
ing up" tue Juror against unncces-
sary and unjust taxation than Capt.
Is. II. Tfllman, either in Iaurcns
County or the State, and yet if he
has in any Of his numerous address
G or letters either "bcforc tho
PRIMARIES" or since, taken any no.
tice of Federal Taxation as one of
the causes Of the oppression of the
people, we have never seen or
heard of it! Could he have been
ignorant Of such & form Of Taxa
ton? His own brother, Hon. Geo.
ID. Tillman, declared in his speech
at johnson, in IIdgcticld County,
on the list Oct. last. and reported
IN the NcrS IL courier of the 22nd,
oct. D., that the people of South
Carolina paid seven times as much
IN taxes l q the Federal Government
as they did to the State Govern
mcnt! And Gov. Richardson, him
self Il farmer, dcclalc s in his recent
Inaugural, that in his opinion South
Cardinals share Of the Federal
Taxes per annum is somewhere be-
tween fifteen and eighteen millions
of dollars! The President of the
United States in his recent message
thinks it worthy Of the subject to
say that
("Our farmers and %agricultu-
G&T rlstS ~ x are perhaps more
directly and plainly con-
cerncd than any other Of our
citizens in aijust and care
full system of Federal taxa
ltion."
And in the same message the
President clearly %cnforccs the
great nocd of Il revision Of the
Tariff.
If then the people who are burd-
cned by Federal as well as state
taxation are to be led by thoir"Ag-
ricultural Moses" and are to be told
by him "what's the matter" and
"whats the remedy" ought he not
to have taken some notice of Fed
eral taxation instc VI saddling
the whole burden Oh The State Gov
crnment-thc State Democracy?
We would not have him or anybody
shield u State Government from
anything with which they are inst
ly chargeablc, but has not Capt.
Tillman committed II grievous
wrong against our state Democracy
in holding them up rs alone rcspon-
sible for taxes!
1t is time for thinking men to de-
tcrminc in their own minds whence
really comes the burden ofTaNation
under which we are struggling.
Does it come from the State, or the
County or the two together On does
it come more than all from Federal
taxation through the tariff? Is
Capt. Is. II. Tillman right when he
ascrfbcs Our hard times to the heavy
State taxes (53 mills or q little more
than of l cent on the dOllar) which
he says is caused by an 'Oligarchy of
lawyers 2" Or is it true as Hon. Geo.
ID. Tillman declares in his Johnson
speech, that we are taxed seven
times as much by the Federal Gov
ernmcnt as by the State? When
Capt. b. r.. Tillman undertook to
tell the people "what's the natter"
he was solemnly bound TO tell the
whole truth; then why did he not
tell us about Federal taxation? If
the State levy of54 mills produces
q State tax of $500 600 as shown by
the report Of the Comptroller Gen
eral, then the Federal tax pom the
man IS $500 600 X T. So 500 600.